By Paul Lecker
For Wausau Pilot & Review
MARSHFIELD – Marshfield shot an efficient 53 percent from the field, drilled 10 3-pointers, and cruised past Wausau East 73-60 on Friday night at the Chips Hamburgers Fieldhouse at Marshfield High School to post their 13th-straight victory.
Sophomore Brooks Hinson made six 3-pointers, five in the first half, and finished with a game-high 29 points to lead the way for Marshfield, which is now 15-4 overall and 9-0 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference.
After East scored the opening basket, Marshfield went on a 14-4 run to take control and never looked back.
Hinson scored twice inside and made five-straight 3-point attempts in a 6½-minute stretch to help Marshfield build a 36-18 lead.
A late basket by Luke LeMoine, who chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds in the win, gave the Tigers a 40-24 lead at halftime. East never cut it to single digits the rest of the way.
Wausau East came as close as 12 on a couple of occasions as Jesse Napgezek got hot. Napgezek, held scoreless in the first half, was 6-for-6 from the field and 4-for-4 at the free throw line to score all 17 points after halftime.
Marshfield, however, was able to counter both runs as Braxton Kurth connected on three 3-pointers and Hinson added another to keep the Lumberjacks at bay. Kurth finished with 14 points, 12 in the second half.
Marshfield will have to win one of its final three conference games to earn its second consecutive Wisconsin Valley Conference championship, a feat never before accomplished in program history. The Tigers have won 21-straight WVC games dating back to a perfect 12-0 finish in 2021-22.
In addition to Napgezek, Jaydan Garrett had 13 points on 6 of 8 shooting for Wausau East, which falls to 7-12 overall and 3-6 in the WVC.
Marshfield will host Kaukauna at 6 p.m. Saturday for a nonconference game. East is off until Thursday when it is at home against Wisconsin Rapids.
Tigers 73, Lumberjacks 60
Wausau East 24 36 – 60
Marshfield 40 33 – 73
WAUSAU EAST (60): Caden Werth 3-5 2-2 9, Jaydan Garrett 6-8 0-0 13, Isaac Rozwadowski 2-7 0-0 4, Brady Prihoda 0-0 0-0 0, Jack Cayley 2-4 0-0 4, Aiden Dykstra 2-3 1-2 5, Jack Barthels 0-5 1-2 1, Jesse Napgezek 6-10 4-4 17, Charlie Cayley 1-5 5-6 7. FG: 22-47. FT: 13-19. 3-pointers: 3-16 (Werth 1-1, Garrett 1-3, Napgezek 1-4, C. Cayley 0-1, Rozwadowski 0-2, Barthels 0-5). Rebounds: 24 (C. Cayley 6). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: none. Record: 7-12, 3-6 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (73): Luke LeMoine 5-9 2-2 12, Braxton Kurth 5-9 1-2 14, Bennett Lang 1-3 0-0 2, Jeff Marsh 0-0 0-0 0, Brooks Hinson 10-13 3-4 29, Sam Meverden 1-2 2-2 4, Ryan Donovan 0-0 0-0 0, Carson Matis 1-1 0-0 3, Chris Pohl 0-3 2-2 2, Owen Hanson 1-5 5-8 7. FG: 24-45. FT: 15-20. 3-pointers: 10-20 (Hinson 6-9, Kurth 3-5, Matis 1-1, Meverden 0-1, Pohl 0-2, Lang 0-2). Rebounds: 20 (LeMoine 7). Turnovers: 7. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: LeMoine. Record: 15-4, 9-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
